Vaulter Joanne Eccles is number five in the world after World Championships
British vaulter Joanne Eccles scored a creditable 5th place in the senior individual female final at the FEI World Vaulting Championships in the Czech Republic, despite being one of the youngest riders in the competition.
Joanne, 19, from Tillicoultry in Scotland, and her father John’s WH Bentley, scored 8.173, putting her behind Nicola Stroh of Germany, in first, Sissi Jarz of Austria, Anja Barwig , also of Germany, and Swiss rider Marion Graf.
“I was very pleased with my score and I think Henry (VW Bentley) had one of the highest horse scores in the competition,” she told H&H.
Her sister Hannah, 16, came 8th in the junior class and the senior and junior teams came 10th and 5th respectively.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.